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Monday, October 31, 2011

Valencia CF vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen - Match preview

Valencia CF vs Bayer Leverkusen

Stadium: Mestalla

01.11.2011; 20:45 CET

4th fixture champions league

Expected attendance: 47.000

Coaches: Unai Emery and Robin Dutt

The fourth fixtures of the Champions League are upon us and Valencia CF will welcome Bayer Leverkusen at the Mestalla for a
footballing spectacle, well okay maybe not quite, but this is going to
be a very interesting match nonetheless as Valencia CF try to exact revenge for their loss in Germany and try and make a strong push to win all their remaining games to continue in the Champions League.

This is a must win match for both clubs and a loss here will probably
mean going down to the Europa League or worse yet maybe even finishing
last in the group. A draw will not serve both clubs and will mean Valencia CF is surely falling out of the Champions League and going down to the Europe League, although that wouldn't be sure either.

Valencia CF is coming to this match after a convincing win on 3-1 in the weekend against Getafe CF and the team are looking to build on that momentum and try and get a so desired win against Bayer Leverkusen that is going to allow Valencia to be in contention for second place in the group and going to the round of 16. This is a desperate situation and anything but a win would spell the end for Valencia CF in the champions league.
While the Europe league isn't bad either, you get a lot less money out of it and of course its not as prestigious, although its actually very competitive.

If you haven't heard Valencia CF have two long term injured players in Maduro and Canales, but other than that everyone so far is in good health and fitness and Emery's got the full squad to choose from. Who he chooses to start is a different matter though as Feghuoli has been playing better and better, while Pablo has been playing worse and worse and will he deem Alba or Mathieu better at left wing that say putting Pablo there or Piatti. If anythign our options on the left are quite big, but not very quality and previously Mata was so good there providing assists and scoring goals frequently and helping out the team.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen on the other hand is with one foot in the round of 16 and even a draw would benefit them, and of course a win would mean they are in the round of 16. They are likely to defend though and try and get a draw, which in a way pretty much guarantees they go in the round of 16. The one thing they wouldn't want though is to loose as that would open up a chance for Valencia CF.

Bayer so far have not been too good in their national championship and are currently in the middle of the table with 17 points out of 11 played games. Of course in Spain that would probably put you in 6th or 7th position and so in that regard they are not weak and are certainly not in a crisis or anything.

Bad news for Bayer Leverkusen is that Ballack broke his nose in the last match and is not going to feature for his team, so that is a relief for Valencia CF and a big negative for Bayer as they loose their most influential midfielder. Since Bayer met Valencia CF they lost a game to Schalke and won their last match against Freiburg.

Result prediction:Valencia CF 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen
If we play at 100% and there aren't any defensive mistakes we should win this game. With Ballack injured Valencia should have an easier time dealing with Bayer's midfield.